For
myself and for our Nation, I want to thank my predecessor
for all he has done to heal our land.
In
this outward and physical ceremony we attest once again to
the inner and spiritual strength of our Nation. As my high
school teacher, Miss Julia Coleman, used to say: "We
must adjust to changing times and still hold to unchanging
principles."
Here
before me is the Bible used in the inauguration of our
first President, in 1789, and I have just taken the oath
of office on the Bible my mother gave me a few years ago,
opened to a timeless admonition from the ancient prophet
Micah:
"He
hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the
Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with thy God." (Micah 6:8)
This
inauguration ceremony marks a new beginning, a new
dedication within our Government, and a new spirit among
us all. A President may sense and proclaim that new
spirit, but only a people can provide it.
Two
centuries ago our Nation's birth was a milestone in the
long quest for freedom, but the bold and brilliant dream
which excited the founders of this Nation still awaits its
consummation. I have no new dream to set forth today, but
rather urge a fresh faith in the old dream.
Ours
was the first society openly to define itself in terms of
both spirituality and of human liberty. It is that unique
self-definition which has given us an exceptional appeal,
but it also imposes on us a special obligation, to take on
those moral duties which, when assumed, seem invariably to
be in our own best interests.
You
have given me a great responsibility to stay close to
you, to be worthy of you, and to exemplify what you are.
Let us create together a new national spirit of unity and
trust. Your strength can compensate for my weakness, and
your wisdom can help to minimize my mistakes.
Let
us learn together and laugh together and work together and
pray together, confident that in the end we will triumph
together in the right.
The
American dream endures. We must once again have full faith
in our country and in one another. I believe America can
be better. We can be even stronger than before.
Let
our recent mistakes bring a resurgent commitment to the
basic principles of our Nation, for we know that if we
despise our own government we have no future. We recall in
special times when we have stood briefly, but
magnificently, united. In those times no prize was beyond
our grasp.
But
we cannot dwell upon remembered glory. We cannot afford to
drift. We reject the prospect of failure or mediocrity or
an inferior quality of life for any person. Our Government
must at the same time be both competent and compassionate.
We
have already found a high degree of personal liberty, and
we are now struggling to enhance equality of opportunity.
Our commitment to human rights must be absolute, our laws
fair, our natural beauty preserved; the powerful must not
persecute the weak, and human dignity must be enhanced.
We
have learned that "more" is not necessarily
"better," that even our great Nation has its
recognized limits, and that we can neither answer all
questions nor solve all problems. We cannot afford to do
everything, nor can we afford to lack boldness as we meet
the future. So, together, in a spirit of individual
sacrifice for the common good, we must simply do our best.
Our
Nation can be strong abroad only if it is strong at home.
And we know that the best way to enhance freedom in other
lands is to demonstrate here that our democratic system is
worthy of emulation.
To
be true to ourselves, we must be true to others. We will
not behave in foreign places so as to violate our rules
and standards here at home, for we know that the trust
which our Nation earns is essential to our strength.
The
world itself is now dominated by a new spirit. Peoples
more numerous and more politically aware are craving and
now demanding their place in the sun not just for the
benefit of their own physical condition, but for basic
human rights.
The
passion for freedom is on the rise. Tapping this new
spirit, there can be no nobler nor more ambitious task for
America to undertake on this day of a new beginning than
to help shape a just and peaceful world that is truly
humane.
We
are a strong nation, and we will maintain strength so
sufficient that it need not be proven in combat a quiet
strength based not merely on the size of an arsenal, but
on the nobility of ideas.
We
will be ever vigilant and never vulnerable, and we will
fight our wars against poverty, ignorance, and
injustice for those are the enemies against which our
forces can be honorably marshaled.
We
are a purely idealistic Nation, but let no one confuse our
idealism with weakness.
Because
we are free we can never be indifferent to the fate of
freedom elsewhere. Our moral sense dictates a clearcut
preference for these societies which share with us an
abiding respect for individual human rights. We do not
seek to intimidate, but it is clear that a world which
others can dominate with impunity would be inhospitable to
decency and a threat to the well-being of all people.
The
world is still engaged in a massive armaments race
designed to ensure continuing equivalent strength among
potential adversaries. We pledge perseverance and wisdom
in our efforts to limit the world's armaments to those
necessary for each nation's own domestic safety. And we
will move this year a step toward ultimate goal the
elimination of all nuclear weapons from this Earth. We
urge all other people to join us, for success can mean
life instead of death.
Within
us, the people of the United States, there is evident a
serious and purposeful rekindling of confidence. And I
join in the hope that when my time as your President has
ended, people might say this about our Nation:
that
we had remembered the words of Micah and renewed our
search for humility, mercy, and justice;
that
we had torn down the barriers that separated those of
different race and region and religion, and where there
had been mistrust, built unity, with a respect for
diversity;
that
we had found productive work for those able to perform it;
that
we had strengthened the American family, which is the
basis of our society;
that
we had ensured respect for the law, and equal treatment
under the law, for the weak and the powerful, for the rich
and the poor;
and
that we had enabled our people to be proud of their own
Government once again.
I
would hope that the nations of the world might say that we
had built a lasting peace, built not on weapons of war but
on international policies which reflect our own most
precious values.
These
are not just my goals, and they will not be my
accomplishments, but the affirmation of our Nation's
continuing moral strength and our belief in an
undiminished, ever-expanding American dream.
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